Button praises driver in gun escape

Armed men tried to attack the car carrying defending Formula One champion Jenson Button in Brazil

Formula One world champion Jenson Button hailed the swift actions of his police driver after being confronted by an armed gang in Sao Paulo.

Button, his father John, manager Richard Goddard and trainer Mike Collier escaped unharmed following Saturday night's frightening attack that occurred on their return to their hotel after the qualifying session for the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The quartet managed to flee the machine-gun wielding assailants as their police protector used the armoured Mercedes he was driving to barge his way through several vehicles.

"We were going back from the track and were outside a shanty town and moving slowly on a busy road," Button told the Mail on Sunday.

"I saw a dog come out, which was very cute. The next thing I saw was a man with a gun. I said 'isn't that a gun?' and as soon as I said that, the driver angled the car and floored it. That's when we saw six men, all of them brandishing machine guns.

"My driver was a legend. He bounced off about five cars. We were driving over the top of them. It was very scary.

"I don't know whether they knew who it was they were ambushing. But I am glad I didn't have my girlfriend Jessica (Michibata) with me. She would have been terrified."

Mr Goddard also praised the officer assigned to protect them, an action purposefully instigated by McLaren given the level of gun crime in Sao Paulo, one of South America's most violent cities. He said: "We were very lucky to have a police driver looking after us because he got us out of what could have been quite a frightening situation.

"The real positive thing to take out of it is that we are all fine and we're all able to look back on it and see it for what it was.

"Obviously from our perspective, luckily it wasn't a lot worse, and luckily the sharp actions of our police driver forcing his way through the traffic like he did was great."